Home Sweet Home? Not so with filmmaker Bryan Bertino, who, since his infamous debut “The Strangers” (2008), has repeatedly varied the motifs of the home invasion genre in both imaginative and nasty ways: while in “Play – Tödliches Spiel” (2015) an unsolicited video camera ensures the domestic horror, in “The Dark And The Wicked” (2020) he shot The genre is completely inside out because it is not the residents (the recently deceased parents) but the “intruders” (the children who have long since moved out) who are being turned through the wolf.
The horror thriller “Vicious – A Devilish Gift” stars Dakota Fanning and revolves around a threat in one’s own four walls. But even if Bryan Bertino once again proves his feeling for a dark atmosphere, the horror-filled magic that is peppered with many genre clichés only delivers average fare without any outstanding creative ideas. The people in charge at Paramount apparently also noticed this, who postponed the original theatrical release in February 2025 because they were looking for a “better date” and ultimately decided on direct exploitation on the in-house streaming service Paramount+.
The mysterious object that “Vicious” is all about is hidden in the mysterious old lady’s bag!
Shortly before Christmas, the doorbell of Polly (Dakota Fanning), who lives alone, rings: an old and seemingly confused woman (Kathryn Hunter) is trying to find her son's house. After Polly invites her in, the old lady places an ominous wooden box on the table that only contains a single hourglass – with the declaration that she will die that night as soon as the last grain has passed through.
Her only chance of averting this fate is to put three things in the box in time: something she hates, something she loves – and something she needs. The strange visit disappears again and Polly initially suspects it is just a bad joke – until she notices increasingly sinister occurrences in her big house…
The next star in the scream queen sky?
“Vicious – A Devilish Gift” is completely tailored to ex-child star Dakota Fanning (“War of the Worlds”), who does most of the film alone – and embodies the increasing fear and desperation of her psychologically broken character in a way that is both believable and intense. A career as Scream Queen However, after the horror double act “They See You” and “Vicious”, she is probably not aiming for it: she found the many tears she had to shed while playing her role to be so demanding that she has already given her genre colleagues great respect in interviews.
In her torturous solo trip to hell – apart from the creaking floorboards and creaking doors – almost all genre clichés are neatly ticked off: flickering lights, electrical devices that turn on as if by magic, creepy calls and figures flitting through the picture in the background should scare you, as should a stubborn mirror image and a few heartily disturbing gore interludes including severed limbs. Bryan Bertino uses these standard ingredients quite effectively with rather sparing lighting in his sets to create an ominous, scary atmosphere. But the plot behind it turns out to be disappointingly lacking in substance.
As Polly, Dakota Fanning delivers an impressive fast-one-woman show in “Vicious”!
With the repeated recording of the song “Dedicated To The One I Love” by The Mamas & The Papas as well as many free looks at the upper arm tattoos of its protagonist (who, nonsensically, even in the dead of winter, walks around in a sleeveless top at home), “Vicious” opens up a suggestive space of interpretation around familial alienation. However, there is no further elaboration beyond vague hints on answering machine messages or in short phone calls with mom, which could possibly help to resolve the very nebulous scenario.
While in the horror classic “Hellraiser” it quickly becomes clear that the puzzle cube opens a gate to hell and summons the Cenobites, the looming questions about the origin and functionality of the visually inconspicuous relic remain completely unanswered in “Vicious”. After a running time of just over an hour, the horror thriller could actually already be over after Polly's nerve-wracking guesswork about the three things that the picky box actually “swallows” (and which ones it doesn't). This gives the last act about Polly's sister, her daughter and the encounter with an inexperienced neighbor the flavor of a rather arbitrary appendix – including possible connections for a sequel that is now hardly likely.
Conclusion: Dakota Fanning acts strongly as a quasi-lone fighter, but the plot remains seriously underdeveloped despite a curious premise. The horror thriller “Vicious – A Devilish Gift” offers effective but also quite superficial horror.